Extension keeps Featherlite hitched to NASCAR

Featherlite Trailers has been making haulers to transport stock cars to races for more than 20 years, and it is poised to do it at least six more.

The Iowa-based company signed a six-year extension to remain the official trailer of NASCAR through 2018. Featherlite has been an official sponsor of the sport since 2000. Its rights include access to the garage on race weekend, tickets, hospitality and use of NASCAR’s logo.

The deal is a mix of cash and value-in-kind.

More than 90 percent of NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams use Featherlite trailers to transport vehicles from race to race. The company has been building and selling those trailers to teams since 1993, when it designed its first transporter for Richard Childress Racing. NASCAR uses 10 transporters for office and meeting space at races each weekend.

A typical NASCAR transporter costs as much as $400,000. Featherlite sells anywhere from five to 20 transporters a year based on demand. Most teams use the transporters for four or five years.

The NASCAR sponsorship allows Featherlite to bring service technicians to each race. Those technicians can work on trailers that need repairs and make sure they are operating properly during the four days the transporter is used over a long race weekend.

“That’s a huge selling point for us,” said Mike Galvin, specialty sales manager for Featherlite. “Having our guy in the garage area when Mr. Hendrick has a meeting in one of his transporters and for some odd reason that day the air conditioner didn’t kick in is important. As many high-profile customers as are in that garage area, it’s majorly beneficial for us. It’s even more important for the team.”

In addition to sponsoring NASCAR, Featherlite sponsors the IndyCar Series and Grand-Am Road Racing.